Ask Mario: Any Ideas For A New Goal After Setting A Marathon PR?

Posted by admin on May 28th, 2017 09:17 AM

Q.

Hi Mario,

I started running 3 years ago for my wellness and also before I knew it I fell for running and chose to train for and also run a marathon. Well, one led to four, and also last month I ran a massive PR of 3:31:26, taking practically 20 mins off my previous best time.

So since I’ve done a few marathons, I’m starting to ask yourself if there are any kind of new challenges I can handle past the 26.2-mile distance?

I don’t desire to be lured to change into my lazy, unhealthy methods, so I need to maintain providing myself brand-new goals. I wish to set an objective that is possible (100-mile races are most definitely out of the question) but at the very same time I wish to establish a goal of doing something that is beyond the marathon. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Cory C.

A.

Cory,

The probabilities are countless! First off, congratulations on your newly found love for running and also all that you have actually attained in the sport in such a short time. A near 20-minute Public Relations is seriously!

So what’s next? Initially, briefly forget handling another race as soon as possible and also enjoy this HUGE success for a bit if you have not already– you have actually earned it! After that begin thinking about your objectives for the second half of 2014 and also introducing next year. Right here are two suggestions to obtain you going in the right direction:

Goal #1: Remain committed to keeping the brand-new healthy lifestyle you have actually created on your own. The brand-new Cory has currently done things the old Cory can only ever imagine, and also will continue to do much more if he remains committed to his running ways.

Goal #2: Locate that brand-new difficulty, that new objective to go after, and chase it down with ruthless persistence.

While the wish to press yourself past the marathon distance is tempting, it’s not a required following action. You already recognize you can complete 26.2 miles– and also instead quickly at that– so why not aim to run it even faster? While your recent Public Relations is very amazing and also something to be actually happy with, don’t be satisfied with it. I have no concept what your existing training program looks like, yet examine it as well as identify some locations for enhancement (most of us have them) as well as see if you could take a couple of more mins off your time. Try bumping up your regular mileage and/or beginning sprinkling some various sorts of strength into your exercises in the form of faster speed exercises or longer tempo runs. Not only will introducing some new range into your training program help improve your speed and ensure quicker health and fitness gains, it will also keep your exercises from obtaining boring.

Take this new difficulty one step further, or back rather, and also train seriously for much shorter distances such as 5K, 10K or half marathon as well as see just how quick you can go. Working with your brief rate will only stimulate new physical fitness gains as well as enhance your performance, which in turn will certainly make you a much better marathoner down the roadway. After recuperating from a significant marathon, several leading specialists will certainly take a marathon training pattern off and run some much shorter track as well as road races prior to returning to the longer range. Such a technique has actually functioned wonders for individuals like Shalane Flanagan, Dathan Ritzenhein and Desiree Davila, and also it will most definitely help you, as well.

However, if you’re set on placing anything shorter compared to the marathon distance in your rearview mirror, after that I suggest beginning with a 50K. I ran my very first one this past springtime, and found the training to be a little a lot more tough than planning for a marathon, but completely manageable at the same time. With the growing appeal of ultramarathons, it should not be also hard to locate an event to tackle this autumn or also next springtime.

Bottom line: Goals are fantastic and also will certainly assist keep you on the right track and also accountable. Never do without a brand-new difficulty– whether it’s going quicker, going much longer or trying something brand-new completely– and also I ensure you you’ll never ever return to your old means. Maintain the fantastic work!

Mario

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